Austria in 2002

Area:

83,858 sq km (32,378 sq mi)

Population

(2002 est.): 8,077,000

Capital:

Vienna

Chief of state:

President Thomas Klestil

Head of government:

Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel

The beginning of 2002 saw the second anniversary of the formation of Austria’s controversial coalition government, comprising the centre-right People’s Party (ÖVP) and the populist, sometimes xenophobic Freedom Party (FPÖ). This coincided with the beginning of a series of crises within the fractious FPÖ that broke out intermittently in the first half of the year as moderates in the cabinet clashed with more extreme elements led by the party’s erstwhile leader Jörg Haider.

In an attempt to boost his own profile and the party’s flagging support, Haider launched a number of headline-grabbing campaigns, caring little whether these were at variance with his own government’s positions. Playing on widespread fears about a Soviet-era nuclear power station in the Czech Republic only 50 km (30 mi) from the Austrian border, for example, he demanded that the government use every means at its disposal to pressure the Czechs into shutting down the plant. Most controversially, this included Haider’s advocating the use of Austria’s membership in the European Union to veto Czech attempts to join the organization. Relations with Prague deteriorated further when Haider again advocated the use of Austria’s EU veto on Czech membership unless it repealed laws still on the books that allowed the expulsion of German-speakers after World War II.

By midyear it was clearly only a matter of time before the FPÖ would fall apart. The final sign came from the heavens; in August persistent heavy rainfall caused the worst flooding in half a century. The cleanup and rebuilding costs took their toll on the public finances, forcing the government to abandon promised tax cuts. Refusing to accept this, Haider led an intraparty revolt, effectively deposing the FPÖ leader and vice-chancellor, Susanne Riess-Passer. Her resignation from both positions in turn led the ÖVP to declare the coalition arrangement with the FPÖ unworkable and call an early general election.

In the voting on November 24, the Freedom Party saw its support plummet from 27% in the most recent general election (1999) to a mere 10%. Voters abandoned the party for a number of reasons. Austrians traditionally tended to punish any party that failed to see out its four-year term in office. More significant, though, was the party’s poor record in government. Having swept to power in 1999 on a wave of popular discontent with the two largest parties, which had cornered power for decades, the FPÖ saw its failure to implement change, for ill or good, prompted supporters to desert in droves.

The big winner in the election was the senior coalition partner, the ÖVP. By taking 42% of the vote, up from 27% in 1999, it leapfrogged its nearest rivals, the Social Democrats (SPÖ), to become the largest party for the first time in more than three decades. This gave its leader, Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, the choice of making a coalition with any one of the other three parties represented in the Federal Assembly—the FPÖ, SPÖ, or the environmentalist Greens. Talks on the formation of a new coalition continued into the final month of the year.

As in the rest of Europe, and indeed much of the world, the Austrian economy faltered in 2002. The export sector stagnated as foreign demand dried up, consumers curtailed their spending, and businesses took a gloomy view of future prospects and slashed investments. The result was a sharp uptick in employment, though with 5.5% of the labour force out of work, Austria continued to enjoy one of the lowest levels of joblessness in Europe.